The Bank Shot

This may be the one that George C Scott cringed about, but WHAT a laugh it was! Certainly not an intellectual feast, but why should every movie be just that? I like my mind to be tickeled, but laughs are always welcome and badly needed to! This is one of those movies that is small and light and fluffy and is simply truly great entertainment, simply because it is so unpretentious. If you want a break from every day life, this is great watching with gags galore, and it is precisely Scott's very annoyed attitude that makes it work. His "Leave me alone you crazies" attitude makes the other characters carry through a vision of a crazy world, that is despite its outrageous insanity closer to the truth of every day senselessness than we all would admit. I first saw this one as a kid, and I can still laugh about it. It is from the same period as "Harold and Maude" and while by no means carrying any social or philosophical comments like Harold and Maude, it certainly has that irreverent flair of the 70s. Does a movie always have to be serious? Whatever happened to simple laughter and charme and the kind of babedom and sexiness displayed by a young Joanna Cassidy? Every character punched through and was flavorful and strong. I will also take this movie's camera-work over anything done with the 90s vintage (and still in use) "new look" stupid jiggling camera and zoomiezoom wiggle-jiggle and zoom-in-zoom-out-pretending-to-be-documentary stuff that makes me sea sick and makes me hit the "off" button regardless of what the story line may be! This one is one of my all time favorite comedies , and I don't care what critics think or Scott thought! It feels right and it lives in a different world. Now isn't also what movies can be all about?

THE BANK SHOT is a lightheart comedy from 1974 which stars George C. Scott in a rare appearance for the genre. It begins as a prison drama before moving into an oddball heist movie packed with some top character actors, including Frank McRae and Don Calfa, although it's Scott's slightly smug performance that leads the way. The escape scene with the bulldozers is a highlight here, but the inventive heist that happens later on in the film is handled very well. The suspense doesn't let up afterwards either, and I doubt I'm the only person who gets a kick out of a Clifton James appearance. The ending is a bit abrupt, but otherwise this works.

This movie was lots of fun from start to finish with Scott in an unusual comic role. The madcap hijinxs that ensue are outrageous and the excellent cast of characters do a fine job. I'm not sure why the very low rating- were people looking for masterpiece theatre? Sit back and enjoy this 70s romp that's much better than most "great" movies I've seen lately.

Adapted from the Donald Westlake novel of the same title "The Bank Shot" stars George C. Scott and a very young Joanna Cassidy (Zora, the snake-dancing replicant of "Blade Runner" fame). A farcical entry in the caper genre whose hook is a plan to steal a bank (mind you, not rob the bank, but to heist, not to mention hoist, the very structure itself), the film exhibits the dry humor, zany sight gags, and whimsical plot twists characteristic of post-Alec Guinness and "Tom Jones" British cinematic comedy.

As a 1974 Hollywood release, "The Bank Shot" was somewhat ahead of its time, preceding both the Monty Python invasion and the American popularity of films like "A Fish Called Wanda." This film is nowhere near as successful as its more famous British counterparts, but it does have its moments and, viewed from a contemporary perspective, an appealing aura of mid-'70s nostalgia replete with long-haired disguises, peace signs, garish fashion, and a plot-central splashing of hot pink paint. Like "Tom Jones" but to a far lesser degree, the film's whimsy manifests itself in its visual an aural techniques not only in its storyline. Some instances include a stunning silhouette sequence that plays like a moving shadow box, an insistently self-conscious (and ultimately annoying) use of voice-over narration, and several outrageously choreographed chase scenes (one involving a golf cart and a caterpillar tractor and another in which everyone - even a pedestrian bystander - is moving backwards were memorably wacky).

Befittingly, the caper gang in "The Bank Shot" is a mixed bag of nut cases, some more effectively cast than others. In a minor role so early in his career that the credits still list him as "Robert," the always interesting-to-watch Bob Balaban is, well, interesting to watch. Also adding quirkiness and some adept physical humor to the cast is Don Calfa, who is perhaps best remembered for his role as Paulie the hapless hit man in "Weekend at Bernie's." Less successfully cast - indeed the killer of every scene he's in is Sorrel Booke as the sidekick who springs criminal mastermind Walter Ballantine (George C. Scott) from jail in order to pull off "the shot" on the bank.

Scott himself, despite his great success in heavy satires like "Dr. Strangelove" and "The Hospital," seems strangely miscast or under-directed in this film. He so underplays his role that he often seems quite nearly asleep. One might be tempted to attribute the sleepwalking to the sodium nitrate (saltpeter) his character continues to consume in large doses even after escaping from prison, but so far as I know the chemical only causes impotence, not somnambulance. Joanna Cassidy, on the other hand, plays the gang's money man, hanger-on, and would-be seductress with a grating manic intensity.

All in all, this gang isn't quite charming enough (British enough?) to make us care whether they succeed or fail in the heist nor does the screenplay supply enough chuckles to quite sustain the film's comic tone. "The Bank Shot" is nevertheless worth a look, but only in a widescreen version that preserves its original Panavision format. It can't afford to surrender even the slightest bit of the visual humor around its edges to cropping or panning.

The music and the script both show that this will be a silly heist caper. George Scott had won the oscar for Patton a couple years earlier, so this was pretty lightweight fun compared to that. Sorrell Booke was the Boss on Dukes of Hazzard for YEARS in the 1980s. and Bob Balaban was so serious in so many Christopher Guest films, years after this. G. Scott is "Ballantine".. still in jail, but already planning his next heist with his "lawyer" Al Karp, played by Booke. fun, older, character actor Liam Dunn is in here as "Painter". Mel Brooks used Dunn in his films for YEARS... was the judge in "Whats up Doc?". supporting Don Calfa was in Foul Play. Joanna Cassidy co-stars, but I don't know much about her. this was one of her early credited roles. lots of laughing. she hits it off with Ballentine. Lots of planning, riding on motorcycles, driving around. we're half-way through, and not much progress has been made on the heist. Then, things start to happen...Can they hide a bank, that was housed in a mobile home, and then dragged away ? Mr. Carlin, from the Bob Newhart Show ( Jack Riley) is in here as the FBI agent, looking for the missing mobile bank. it's kinda slow, by today's standards, but fun for back in the day. some fun twists near the end. Directed by Gower Champion. didn't direct much. acted. directed, some crew credits. not the best, biggest ending. ah well. sadly, Champion died quite young at 59.